Van Hevensin resident, a week after the protagonist left:

Sharon was locked into her room, alone and deprived of her food, thanks to the comment of her mother that she gained some weight.

As a noble lady, Sharon excused herself and left, understanding the message that her mother didn’t want her to be there.

Why would she? They were in the middle of discussing IMPORTANT details about the family, having her there would be pointless.

As the youngest of the family, she held close to no power in the household, with her future already determined as a pawn to be married into another powerful noble family.

Even though she knew this much, she was okay with it.

As in okay with it, meant that she has been planning to run away for a very long time.

People told her countless times that she was lucky to be born as a noble, but to her, it was nothing but a cage. She couldn’t do what she wanted, she was always judged by others and her life was already decided by others. Even the clothes she wore, the jewelry she received as a present, or hobbies she had were chosen by her family.

For once in her life, she wanted to choose something.

With these thoughts in mind, the noble lady got out of her bed, and from her closet, she lifted a small sword.

This sword was gifted to her by a young guard who once was temporarily stationed her for some reason. She was a kind person who even showed her how to use it.

Since then, she has trained in secret and become somewhat acceptable in using it.

Tonight, as well, she unshaded the blade, the simple metal glamming in the moonlight, looking dangerous even though it wasn’t sharpened.

Swinging it a few times, Sharon faintly smiled, imagining her life as an adventurer or a guard, having excitement and freedom.

But this wasn’t my life. Nor yet.

She put the sword back in its place and sat back down on her back.

“I wonder where that guy went.”

For the past weeks, the stranger in the golden mask would visit her mind several times.

She couldn’t forget how that man jumped over the wall with ease and escape like a thief.

I want to become someone like that too!

‘…be…’

“Hmmm?”

Just for a second, she heard the sound of somebody talking.

“Who's there?”

Scared, she stood back up, and looked around in the darkroom.

‘...be…’

From the closet. Whatever the sound was, it was coming from there.

Afraid, but curious, she slowly approached it, the slowly opened it.

There, the sword she previously held was still, but something else was on its bottom.

It was a small, green-covered book, with a card lying on top of it.

“What is it doing here?”

She lifted the book up and inspected the title in the moonlight.

It was written in cursive with golden lines, making it hard to read.

“Book of Stolas? When did I get a book like that?”

Perplexed, she flipped the card over.

On it was a drawing of a brown horse standing in the middle of a field, wearing a crown while holding a broadsword in its mouth. On the bottom of the cars was a single word: Macha.

As she said the world, the animal looked directly into the eyes of the girl.

Before she realized it, she found herself in that field.

The sky was red, like blood, the sun black as if it was a bottomless hole.

The horse, galloping towards here, slowly changed, its flesh melting away before her eyes.

Then everything faded black, only hearing a voice of a woman.

‘Be one with me.’

*****

[Dark Apostle of War been selected]

[Running through list…]

1. [Dark Apostle of Fire]: [Selected]

2. [Dark Apostle of Air] : [Selected]

3. [Dark Apostle of Water]: [Selected]

4. [Dark Apostle of Earth]: [Selected]

5. [Dark Apostle of Discord]: [Selected]

6. [Dark Apostle of Misfortune]: [Selected]

7. [Dark Apostle of Purification]:[Selected]

8. [Dark Apostle of War]: [Selected]

9. [Dark Apostle of Famine]: [Selected]

10. [Dark Apostle of Destruction]: [Selected]

11. [Dark Apostle of History]: [Selected]

12. [Dark Apostle of Hatred]: [Selected]

13. [Dark Apostle of Oblivion]: [Selected]

14. [Dark Apostle of Death]: [Selected]

[All Dark Apostles selected.]

[Current state of opposing apostles:]

1. [Apostle of Fire]: [Selected]

2. [Apostle of Air ]: [Unselected]

3. [Apostle of Water]: [Selected]

4. [Apostle of Earth]: [Selected]

5. [Apostle of Unity]: [Unselected]

6. [Apostle of Fortune]: [Unselected]

7. [Apostle of Harvest]: [Unselected]

8. [Apostle of Peace ]: [Selected]

9. [Apostle of Satiety]: [Selected]

10. [Apostle of Creation]: [Unselected]

11. [Apostle of Progress]: [Unselected]

12. [Apostle of Love]: [Selected]

13. [Apostle of Recollection]: [Unselected]

14. [Apostle of Life]: [Selected]

[Current chance of victory: 83%]

…

[Alert!]

[Additional compatibles located.]

[Current location]:[Off-world]

*****

???? POV, 3 days after the protagonist left the city:

“What happened? Where are we?”

A group of young high school boys and girls, around fifty of them, all belonging from different places, were standing in what they could only describe as a big hall of a castle.

The whole room was made from the finest marble with expensive looking articles laying around.

Surrounding the kids were a group of knights pointing halberds at their throats.

“Ahhh, my new toys have finally arrived!”

On an elevated platform, a fat man was sitting on a golden throne.

When saying fat, it meant that the man looked like a ball that grew limbs and a head.

His face looked like that of a pig with blond curly hair and small, dot-like eyes, the crown looking comedically too big for him.

His red silver clothing didn’t help either, reminding the kids of a talking tomato.

The king smiled as he continued talking, in a high pitch sound.

“I am Benjamin Wunderbar the THIRD! King of the great Empire, the greatest civilization of the world! Kneel before me, peasants!”

Not knowing what to do, the kids stared at them in shock and confusion.

Then, from behind them, the guards put metallic collard on their necks, each having a dog tag looking thing dangling on them.

“Hey what is-AAAAAAAAAAA!”

Before one of the boys could speak, an electric shock run through their bodies, making them fall to the ground.

“Silence, peasant! I am the King here!”

As the pain faded, an old man walked before them, holding onto a crystal ball the size of a watermelon.

“Bring the girl than the others to me.”

Following their orders, the nearest guards dragged the nearest girl, who happened to be 12 years old.

She tried to scream and run, but the metal collar didn’t let her, so she just cried as they put her hand on the ball, making it glow in every color of the rainbow before it showed a transparent screen before the priest.

“Her main class is Saint; her subclass is Archer. She is useable. Next one.”

This continued, pressing each people’s hand, separating them into two groups.

Once everyone was processed, there were twenty-six ‘useable’ and twenty-four ‘useless.’

“We are done, my liege.”

“Perfect! Take them away!”

At his command, the guards took the useable people and dragged them outside to ac out where several more guards were waiting.

Once they were all there, the pressure the collars put on them vanished, letting them finally move.

“W-What just happened?!”

The first one to talk was a boy, around 17 years old, having Japanese features.

As if he opened a floodgate, the other kids started to shout, scream, and cry.

“SHUT UP!”

The one who just spoke was a man wearing a black full plated armor, his bald head nothing more than a collection of scars.

Like the boy who just spoke tried to say something, his voice was gone.

“ For this day forward you butch is nothing more than soldiers of the Empire! You have no names, no past, no life! You will be trained in the pits of hell, your muscles torn to pieces, healed, and torn again, till you can crush metal with your bare hands! You will become heroes of the empire, loyal to the fault! Now, we will assign you with your new names, then we will start right now! You! You’re Number 1. Your number 2.-“

Once everyone got their number, the guards picked up wooden weapons and advanced.

“LET THE TRAINING BEGIN!”

Without warning, the guards ran at the teenagers starting to beat them to a pulp mercilessly.

They tried to fight back at first, but the numbing effects of the collars didn’t let them move.

Some got lucky, hit on the head rendering them unconscious, not feeling the beating raining down on their bodies.

At a balcony, a group of nobles was watching the scene with sadistic smiles. Amongst them was the king, who was carried on a portable throne, by four, empty eyed slaves.

“Perfect! Perfect! These peasants will greatly increase our military strengths! General, how much time will it take for them to be cooked?”

A man in his fifties with an impressive mustache answered.

“With the current training they are currently exposed to, the weak-minded will break soon, ready for their re-education, but they are only canon faders. What we need are the strong ones, since those are the ones who will become strong.”

“Excellent! I can’t wait! These heroes are going to be the founding stones of our empire which will be spread out all over the world!”

“Naturally, my lord. By the way, we already started the experiments on the useless bunch!”

“Hah, General, this is why you are my right-hand man! I will make sure that you shall receive a proper recompense!”

“I am honored, my King.”